Stuaet peeey



No Model.)

S. PERRY & D. A. SPRAGUE.

WAGON RUNNING GEAR.

No. 309,739. Patented Dec. 28, 1884.

W/T/VESS'ES UNTTsn STaTns PATENT Orricn.

STUART PER-BY, OF NEXVPORT, AND DANIEL A. SPRAGUE, OF POLAND, N. Y.

'wAeoN Resume-cans.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 309,739, dated December 23, 1884:.

Application lilcd September 24, 1834. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

I Be it known that we, STUART PERRY, of Newport, and DANIEL A. SPRAGUE, of P- land, in the county ofHerkimer and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vagons; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to an improvement in wagons. The lateral switching motion of the tongue or shafts of a wagon caused by the strik ing of one of the front wheels against a stone, stump, or other obstruction is a great annoyance to the team, and often becomes a source of injury by bruising the neck and shoulders. It also produces rapid wear upon the tugs or yokes and the straps connecting the same to the saddle or collar. The devices hitherto constructed for preventing this evil have been somewhat complicated and only adapted to be used in connection with a particular form of reaches.

The object ol'our present invention is to provide means whereby ends of the front axle of a wagon are automatically locked against a receding rnotion when acted upon by the wheels, and automatically released when acted upon by the shafts or tongue, a further object being to provide a locking device which may be con veniently applied to any ordinary wagon with very little expense, a further object being to provide a locking device which shall be simple, effective, and durable.

With these ends in view our invention consists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view of our improvement applied to a running-gear in which the axle-trees are connected by cross-reaches. Fig. 2 is a view of the 1 same applied to a runninggear in which the reach is rigidly secured to the rear axle-tree.

A and B represent, respectively, the front and rear axle-trees, both adapted to be pivotally secured to the body, as represented in Fig. 1, or the front axle pivotally secured and the rear axle rigidly secured, as represented in Fig. 2. A metal bar or rod, 0, is secured firmly to the under side of the front axle, A,

running longitudinally therewith, and leaving a narrow clear space between itself and the axle, except at the central portion, 0, where the rod is conveniently supported bya block,

D; or the rod 0 may constitute the axle proper,

as represented in Fig. 2, the axle-tree or axletree cap E being cut away on both sides of the central portion, forming the clear spaces 6 between the axle and bolster. The tongue is hinged or pivotally secured to the axle by any approved device. Two sleeves or grips,F, each provided with a rearwardly-extending long arm, f, and a forward]y-extending short arm, f, are adapted to fit and slide on O, and are located in corresponding positions on opposite sidcs of its center. The ends of the arms fare connected with the reaches or reach G by rods pivotally secured to the arms and ;0 reaches, the rods extending from the arms f to the reaches on the opposite sides of the cen-' ter from the arms when cross-reaches are employed, as shown in Fig. 1. The ends of the arms f are connected with the tongue by the rods pivotally secured thereto. The relation between the rods g and connecting the long and short arms of each of the sleeves F to the reach and tongue, respectively, is such that when lateral pressure is applied to the tongue the long-and short arms of F will be forced outwardly or inwardly at the same rate, and the sleeve or grip F will be thereby slid along the bar 0 without any tendency to bind thereon; but when either a backward or a forward pressure is exerted upon either end of the forward axle by an-obstruction to the wheel or by any other means the axle is immediately locked in position by the sleeves F, which are immediately converted into friction-grips, the 9 opposite edges, h h or 7/71., according as the pressure is backward or forward, snugly binding on C. The binding is caused by the force which is exerted on the ends of the axle being immediately transferred to the ends of the long arms f of the sleeves F. By increasing the difference between the length of the long arm and length of the sleeve the frictional grip will be increased, and in no case will the sleeve be caused to slip on the bar from an obstruction to the wheel where the long arm is three times the distance between the opposite grip ends of the sleeve. The axle-tree is unlocked either by a cessation of the force which looked it or by a force applied to the short arm of the sleeve in the same direction as the locking force.

It will be observed that the simple device herein described affords an absolute prevention against the whipping of the tongue, no matter how rough or stony the road may be, is durable, and easily applied to wagons of different constructions.

By connecting the axles represented in Fig. l with a center reach in addition to the crossreaches, the rods gmight be connected with it instead of the cross-reaches; or the rods 1 might be connected to an arm or bracket depending from the wagon-body. It is evident, also, that the mechanism of the several parts described may be varied in form and arrangement in other ways than those above mentioned without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention; hence we do not wish to limit ourselves strictly to the construction herein set forth; but,

Having fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a wagon, the combination, with a pivoted axle-tree, of sliding friction clutches or grips secured thereto or connected therewith, and means for connecting the friction clutches or grips with the tongue, and with a support located in rear of the axle, whereby the axle is securely locked against a swinging motion by a force which tends to swing it, and unlocked by a lateral movement of the tongue, substantially as set forth.

2. In a wagon, the combination, with apivoted axle, a tongue, and a reach, each pivotally secured thereto, of sliding friction clutches or grips secured on the axle or on a bar or bars connected therewith, and means for connecting the clutches with the tongue, substantially as set forth.

3. In a wagon, the combination, with a pivoted axle, and a tongue and a reach attached to the axle, of sliding clutches or grips secured to the axle, each grip having a long and a short arm rigidly secured thereto, said arms being pivotally connected with the reach and tongue, respectively, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof we have signed this specification in the presence of two subcribing witnesses.

STUART PERRY.. DANIEL A. SPRAGUE.

\Vitnesses:

DANIEL P. \Voosrnn, J. T. W'oosrrnc. 

